The Doctor's Haunted Mansion
by lauraforthewinoswald
Summary: "The doctor and his trusted companion; lost and afraid in this old haunted mansion. They've traveled the stars and regions beyond in search of a sweet little girl they call Pond. Brave Rory Williams, the plastic soldier. For so many years he longed to hold her. She was his joy, she was his pride. But thanks be to an angry bride; he'll get to hold her as she dies. " - Madame Leota
1. This Isn't Foreboding At All

A light breeze rustled the Spanish moss, bringing a small moment of relief from the thick and muggy summer air. An abandoned antebellum mansion just outside New Orleans stood surrounded by the overgrown trees of what was once a thriving plantation. The year was 1935 and the sight of abandoned buildings had become commonplace for many. But this one was different. Amy and Rory had wanted to visit old New Orleans to partake in some Mardi Gras festivities but, as was usually the case, The Doctor had missed his mark by a few months.

It was the middle of July and the sweltering heat was more than Rory could handle. He rolled his eyes in frustration and wiped the perspiration from his face as they walked past the rusted iron gates. They creaked and slammed shut behind them with an ear splitting metallic clang. "Still anyway of convincing either of you to turn back around?" Rory asked, his anxiousness more than a little obvious.

"It's a haunted house, Rory." The Doctor put his arm around his companion's shoulder and swayed excitedly. "Where's your sense of adventure?"

"It'll be fun." Amy replied. "Not like ghosts are actually real. Right, Doctor?" They got up to the front steps and the front door swung open on it's own.

"Not in the human sense of the word, no." The Doctor walked in slowly followed by his companions. Rory turned on his little pocket torch and looked around at the foyer.

"What's this writing on the wall?" Amy whispered. "Why can't we read it?"

"I'm not sure." The Doctor replied. They walked down the hallway beside the staircase and the home suddenly grew cold and drafty.

"This isn't foreboding at all." Rory scoffed.

"Help me!" A voice echoed and made the trio jump.

Rory's first instinct was to reply. "Hello? Are you hurt?" They waited for an answer and got nothing.

Amy's skin crawled. Rory and The Doctor stood in front of her as she felt something touch her shoulder. She quickly spun around and saw nothing but darkness. "Who's there?" She called out, a hint of fear made her voice quiver.

"More writing." Rory pointed his torch to another wall. This time they could clearly read the words 'HELP ME' on the walls. A whisper spun him around. "Doctor!" Rory stared at a strange ball of light floating towards them.

"What's it saying?" Amy asked.

"Can't make it out." The Doctor took out his screwdriver and got to examining the luminous orb with no luck. The floating light went down the hall and around a corner. "Let's go!" The Doctor took hold of his companions and followed the mysterious light.

They found themselves in a room with no furniture of any kind, just eerie portraits on the walls. The door they'd walked though suddenly closed and the orb disappeared. Amy ran to where the door once stood. "There's nothing here!" Amy pounded on the wall. "There has to be a secret opening." She began to turn the nearby portraits around to look underneath them. "A hidden switch to reopen the door or something."

"It's completely sealed." Rory placed his hands on the wall and felt it slowly. "There's no crack indicate an opening anywhere. It's a solid wall."

"We just walked through it! How could it be solid?" Amy replied.

"There's no windows either." The Doctor looked up. "Except that." He pointed to the skylight. The bright blue summer sky suddenly turned grey and rain began to beat down on the glass roof. Nothing but bolts of lightning and Rory's torch illuminated the room.

The skylight seemed to move further and further up into the sky as though the room were stretching. Amy took hold of Rory's hand. A sudden scream cut through the darkness and a bolt of lightning illuminated a figure hanging from the ceiling. The three screamed in terror before the room suddenly fell back into it's original shape and the skylight revealed the blue mid-summer sky once more. "What happened? There was someone up there. They were hanging up there like..." Amy put her hand around her neck. "They're gone."

"What is this place?" Rory asked.

"Was it a hologram of some sort maybe? Or a crack in the rift? A spaceship in disguise?" The Doctor jumped excitedly. "What a delicious mystery!"

"I really don't like this." Rory looked worried at the new door which was now on the opposite side of the room from where they'd entered originally. Rory pointed his torch towards the open door. It lead to a long dark corridor. Unnaturally cold air came running through it. The glowing orb suddenly reappeared. Amy began to follow it without question. She felt it almost drawing her in. "Amy." Rory reached for her hand but the opening to the corridor shut behind her; separating her from her boys.

"Amy!" Both The Doctor and Rory cried out from the other end of the wall but Amy was hypnotised by the glowing spirit. It lead her to a library with a high vaulted ceiling. It's walls were completely covered in books. She looked around excitedly at all the books around her as the orb disappeared. She walked over to a shelf and looked through the ornate 19th century hardback covers. As she went to reach for a book, she gasped and dropped it at the sight of a man sitting quietly at a desk on the other side of the room.

"I'm so very sorry. I didn't mean to startle you." The man stood and bowed politely as he approached Amy. He was dressed in an old fashioned manner as if he were as old as the books surrounding them. He himself didn't look a day over 40. "Edward Gracey." The man extends his hand for a shake. He gave Amy a strange melancholy smile.

Amy took his hand tentatively. "I'm sorry, do you live here?"

"This manor has been in my family for generations." Gracey replied.

"It's just that it looked pretty abandoned from the outside. No offense." Amy chuckled. "And not to alarm you or anything but... Did you know your house was haunted?"


	2. Your Sympathetic Vibrations

Mr. Gracey informed Amy on the history of the house. One hundred years ago the former Mr. Gracey fell in love with a servant named Elizabeth. But fearing their love could never be, Ms. Elizabeth killed herself. "Gracey Manor has been bewitched ever since."

"What happened to the old Mr. Gracey? Your grandfather I assume." Amy asked.

"He hanged himself." Mr. Gracey replied.

Amy felt a chill up her spine as she remembered the vision they'd seen earlier in that strange room. "I'm so sorry." Amy looked back towards from where she came and saw no door. "I don't quite remember how I got here but I need to get back to my husband."

"Husband?" Mr Gracey raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, and my friend, The Doctor. We were together, the three of us. I don't know where they are now." Amy explained.

"Well, I'll look for them." Mr Gracey put a hand on Amy's shoulder. "In the meantime, let me show you to your room."

"I wasn't planning on staying." Amy looked confused as she followed Mr. Gracey.

Gracey lead her to a lovely bedchamber. "You rest while I find your husband."

"But I..." Amy turned around to find the bedroom door had been shut behind her. She went to turn the door but it was locked. There seemed to be no way to unlock it from the inside. Then the glowing orb appeared to her once more. "Hey! Ghost ball or whatever you are. Can you get me out of here?" Amy whispered to the orb. It floated up close to her face as if examining her. Then it flew to a large wardrobe and disappeared through it. Amy quickly ran and opened the wardrobe but found nothing except old clothes. She examined them carefully. They looked to be from the early 1800's yet very well preserved and nearly new-looking.

Amy decided to make the most out of being stuck by trying on some clothes. She put on a green and white gown. She looked like a Gone With The Wind southern belle in her chosen outfit. Amy twirled in front of the mirror and attempted her best Scarlett O'Hara stare. Then the piano in the corner began to play on it's own, reminding her that she was in fact in a haunted house. She ran to it and closed it shut to stop the music then fell backwards onto the bed. "I gotta find a way out of here." She whispered.

Rory and The Doctor had found another passage out of the strange room; an odd spiraled staircase surrounded by other staircases that seemed to defy the laws of gravity. "How is this happening? Looks like an MC Escher painting." Rory whispered as he looked up at the upside down staircase over his head and he walked down his own staircase. "Are we the ones right side up or are we the upside down ones?"

"I don't know if gravity works here the way it does on Earth." The Doctor replied.

"Are you saying we're not on Earth anymore?" Rory looked at the bottom of the staircase with his torch and saw a small wooden door.

"Maybe the answer's in there" The Doctor replied. They reached the door and The Doctor opened it slowly. It was an old basement filled with dusty antiques.

Rory illuminated a row of old china dolls with his torch and shivered. "This place is a nightmare." Just then his torch went out. "Doctor!" Rory yelled into the darkness.

"Don't worry... I've got it..." The doctor could be heard tripping around in the dark before illuminating the space with an old tin lantern. "Found a candle!"

Rory stood frozen as he saw the glowing ghost orb appear behind The Doctor. "It's back." He pointed.

The Doctor turned around quickly. "Hello little friend. What are you exactly?"

The orb whispered back unintelligibly.

"Where's Amy? Where did you take her?" Rory asked. The orb flew past them to an old portrait and dissolved. "Doctor..." Rory felt a lump in his throat. "It's Amy... How it is Amy?" They looked at the old painting of a young woman who looked exactly like Amy circa 1800.

"It could be that she found herself in a portal that lead her to the past." The Doctor examined the painting with his screwdriver. "Or it could just be an amazing coincidence." An old wooden chest began to rock next to the portrait. The boys jumped and found themselves holding hands. Rory shot The Doctor a look. "Sorry..." The Doctor whispered as he let go of Rory's hand. He examined the box with his screwdriver. "It's just papers." The Doctor kneeled down to open the chest. "Letters" He handed some to Rory.

"This one's from an Edward Gracey. My Darling Elizabeth... You think she's Elizabeth?" Rory pointed to the portrait.

"Possibly." The Doctor went to read the letter in his hand while Rory held the lantern. "Dearest Edward, words cannot express my elation at your proposal. Tomorrow night our two hearts will beat as one. I do."

"She was beautiful, wasn't she?" The voice of Mr. Gracey spun the boys around once more. He smiled at the sight of them holding hands again. "She's come back, Elizabeth has returned home."

"You're Edward Gracey, aren't you?" The Doctor replied. "How are you here?"

"I sensed your sympathetic vibrations and materialized for you." Mr. Gracey smiled. He noticed Rory's wedding ring. "You're married?"

"Yes..." Rory let go of The Doctor's hand. "My wife, Amy." He turned to look at the portrait again. "She looks just like her."

"What a lucky man you are." Mr. Garcey walked to the painting and shed a tear. "She didn't believe I truly loved her. She was below my station but I didn't care. I told her I didn't..." He held back his tears as he turned back around to face them. "She poisoned herself. She said she'd rather die than see me in the arms of another." He took out a letter from his suit pocket. "Her last letter to me, I keep it here next to my heart."

"I'm so sorry." Rory replied.

Mr. Garcey smiled again. "You're a pure soul. I can sense it."

"Thank you, sir." Rory replied. "Can I ask a favor of you, Mr. Gracey? My wife, she was taken from us. She's lost somewhere in this mansion and we need to find her."


	3. The Name's Amy

Back in Amy's bedchamber; a knock at the door made her jump up. "Doctor?" She asked as she went to open the door.

"Not quite, darling." A woman's voice came from the other side. The door opened and in stepped a woman dressed in white. She looked a bit like a bride. "I'm Constance, I'm here to get you ready for the ball."

"The what?" Amy looked puzzled.

"I see you're already dressed." Constance smiled. "Go on, have a seat."

Amy slowly sat at the small vanity. Constance picked up a hair brush. "You're so very pretty, aren't you, Elizabeth?" She spoke softly as she combed Amy's hair.

"Who?" Amy noticed Constance had no solid reflection in the mirror. "You're not a Saturnyn are you?" Amy asked.

"I'm not sure what that means." Constance chuckled. "You've been lost for a long time. I'm sure you're confused."

"I'm looking for my husband." Amy replied.

"Aren't we all." Sighed Constance. Amy looked and was surprised to find her hair had been done up in a matter of seconds by Constance. "You look lovely." Constance smiled. "I'm sure you'll snatch yourself a husband tonight."

"I'm already married." Amy turned around but Constance had disappeared. Luckily, the bedroom door had been left open. Amy ran down the dim lit corridors until she heard the faint sound of music. She opened the door from where it came and she found herself surrounded by ghostly figures dancing. She screamed and went to turn back around but Mr. Gracey stood before her. He took her hands and began to dance with her.

"Elizabeth, you must calm down." Gracey whispered. "You'll be set free soon enough."

"The name's Amy!" Amy could not fight off Gracey's grip on her hands. "Your memories will return soon. She said it would take time."

"Who told you that, the ghost bride?" Amy replied.

"She's a good woman, Constance. She was there for me when all seemed lost. She rescued me." Garcey let go of Amy's hands.

"I don't know if you're proper ghosts or someone trapped in time or whatever. But I'm not the girl you're looking for. I'm sorry you lost Elizabeth but I can't help you." Amy looked around as the room glowed like a brand new dancehall instead of the drab and dilapidated room it had been moments earlier. She tried to run away but the ghostly party guests grabbed hold of her.

"Please, Elizabeth. I don't want to hurt you." Gracey looked on with genuine concern. "Take this, she said it would help you." He took Amy's face in his hand and forced her mouth open as he poured the strange draught inside her mouth. Amy suddenly fell to the ground. Gracey carried her off.

The Doctor and Rory found themselves wandering around the manor until they found an exit. It was night out. "We've been in there the whole day?" Rory held up his lantern to illuminate the graves they found themselves next to. "Amy's still in there." He whispered. They turned to open the door from which they exited but it was locked. The Doctor took Rory's hand as they began walking back to the front of the house when Constance appeared before them.

"Where are you two handsome young men off to?" Constance replied in a sweetly flirtatious tone. She walked up to The Doctor and played with his bowtie. "You're not spoken for, are you?"

"Um.. I'm in a long distance relationship." The Doctor chuckled a bit. "Sorry.. This is really interesting. I've never been hit on by a ghost before. I just love new things."

"Sorry to interrupt." Rory cut in. "We're looking for someone. Any chance you could help us?"

Constance smiled. "You seem kind." She reached up to his face.

Rory shuddered; her touch was freezing. "My wife she's trapped in that house. We have to find her."

"I'm afraid I can't let you do that." Constance smiled. "Elizabeth is home now."

"Yes, there's a bit of a mix up, I think." The Doctor stepped forward. "Our Amelia looks a great deal like your Elizabeth but she's not exactly..."

"You will not stop me!" Constance's attractive features morphed into a grey cadaverish face. Her white wedding gown was now stained with blood. "Tonight she will join us and we'll finally be free." She screamed and disappeared in a flash; leaving the boys with a terrible ringing in their ears. They ran back to the front door they'd come through earlier but it slammed shut in their faces.

Rory pulled and kicked the door but it was useless. "And it's made of wood."

"How many times are you going to throw that back in my face?" The Doctor replied. He looked at a window and smiled. "I know what to do." Again, he took Rory's hand and ran to the widow. The Doctor pulled out his sonic and started buzzing it at different frequencies. "The right intonation should shatter the glass." Just as he finished his thought; the window shattered around them. Rory was left with a gash on his cheek. "I'm so sorry, Rory..."

"I'm fine!" Rory shot back. "We have to find Amy." He crawled in through the window followed by The Doctor. They seemed to be in another neverending hallway. "The ghost bride said Amy was joining them tonight. They're going to kill her; make her a ghost like them."

"They think she's Elizabeth." The Doctor paused for a moment. "What is it about Elizabeth that's so important? Why do they need her to get home? And where's home? Is it the afterlife or another dimension?"

"You know you do this thing where you throw a million questions out at once without a single answer?" Rory replied angrily. Suddenly a door beside them opened with a sinister creaking. They approached it slowly.

It looked like a fortune teller's room. The floor was covered in colorful carpets and a table with chair and a crystal ball stood in the center. The boys walked towards it as it began to glow a bright green. A woman's face appeared inside the crystal ball. It spoke thus,

" _The ageless doctor and his trusted companion._

 _Lost and afraid in this old haunted mansion_

 _They've traveled the stars and regions beyond._

 _In search of a sweet little girl they call Pond."_


	4. The Bride

"Yes, Amy Pond. Please, tell us where she is." Rory asked the crystal ball.

"Poor little Amy. Her world grows hazy. Poor Mr. Gracey. Has acted so hastily." The fortune teller replied.

"Are you carrionite?" The Doctor asked.

"My name is Leota." She replied. "You know of us, Doctor?"

"Ran into some of your sisters at the globe theater." He smiled.

" _Elizabeth has come back home_

 _but not in the form she had once known._

 _Alive, her soul it shined so bright,_

 _that in her death she became pure light."_ Leota spoke.

Rory's eyes lit up. "The orb. It's Elizabeth!"

The Doctor picked up the crystal ball. "Be careful." Leota yelled.

"Sorry, but we need you to give us directions back to Amy." He held her close as they ran out to find her.

Meanwhile, Amy stood next to Gracy and Constance in a beautiful wedding gown. Ghostly figures looked on as the morbid wedding service began. Amy looked sickly pale and her eyes were lost in a trace. "This isn't right." Gracy whispered as the ghostly priest told him to kiss his bride.

"Do it! Gracy, you fool!" Constance yelled. "It's the only way to break the curse."

"You said she'd remember me." Gracy looked back at Constance. "She doesn't remember me."

Just then Rory and The Doctor burst in through the door. Amy fell limp to the ground. Rory ran to her and held her in her arms. She was freezing to the touch. Madame Leota gave another fortune.

" _Brave Rory Williams, the plastic soldier._

 _For so many years he longed to hold her._

 _She was his joy, she was his pride._

 _But thanks be to an angry bride;_

 _he got to hold her as she died."_

"No! Amy, please." Rory rocked her lifeless body back and forth as he cried.

"I'm so sorry." Gracy hung his head in shame.

"You!" The Doctor pointed at the bride. "I name thee, carrionite."

The bride morphed into her true form. "Leota, my sister. How do you like your cell?"

"What's the meaning of this?" Gracy angrily looked back at Constance.

"You were supposed to choose me, Gracy! Me!" Constance screamed and a portal opened. "I killed her. I killed Elizabeth. Leota tried to stop me and now look at her. Even in death you'd rather have Elizabeth than me!"

Just then the white orb appeared in front of the dark portal. It morphed into the human form of Elizabeth. "My love." She stretched out her hands to Gracy. As their hands met, Constance dissolved into the portal while the other ghosts began to fly away. The ghost of Elizabeth then came forward and kissed Rory's forehead. She leaned in and touched Amy's face. Color returned to her cheeks and took a violent gasp for breath as her eyes opened. Elizabeth smiled as Rory's tears turned to tears of joy.

"I'm sorry for the trouble we caused you." Gracy bowed his head and they dissolved into a golden light. Constance and Leota disappeared into the portal and their surrounding reverted back into an old abandoned mansion. The sky was blue again as if they hadn't been in there for more than an hour.

"So this was all over a jealous carrionite?" Amy asked as they walked back to the tardis.

"But it doesn't explain Gracy's ghost." Rory replied.

"Leota," The Doctor chimed in. "She used a counter curse to keep their spirits alive. I wonder why she was on their side instead of her sister's? Leota might be the first kind carrionite I've ever met."

"You still owe me a Mardi Gras party." Amy smiled.

The Doctor fixed his coordinates. "You were dead five minutes ago and you're ready to go to a party?"

"All the more reason to celebrate." Amy put her arms around her husband.

"While I do agree that we ought to celebrate.." Rory began. "Wouldn't you like to rest for a little while? There's no rush; we're in a time machine after all. We've got all the time we want. We could stay in bed for days and still make it to the party on time."

"Sounds a bit boring though." Amy replied. "Sleeping in bed for days."

"I didn't say we'd be sleeping." Rory whispered.

Amy leaned in and kissed Rory passionately. The Doctor shivered at the sight like a child watching his parents flirt. "Well, if you need me I'll be working on my costume." The Doctor walked away quickly.

"Now I need to brush up on my french." Amy thought aloud.

"Are we still talking about Mardi Gras or...?" Rory chuckled as they walked down the corridor to their bedroom.


End file.
